RENO  A good slogan is hard to come by. That is a universal truth in marketing and advertising, experts said.

The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority and the city of Sparks, in their best efforts to boost local tourism, have learned that the hard way.

Each spent more than $100,000 developing marketing and branding campaigns that included new slogans. When the slogans were presented publicly, the negative blow back was tremendous.

Sparks' "Festival City" unnerved older residents who thought the marketing campaign would somehow change the name of Sparks or be the end to the city's long-standing moniker, "The Rail City."

That was tame compared with the firestorm at the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority thanks to the slogan attached to its new marketing campaign designed to attract a younger audience, first-time visitors and visitors who had not been to Reno for at least three years.

"A little west of center" left some puzzled. Worse, it angered Reno Mayor Bob Cashell. He called it an embarrassment to his city, a sentiment that he has yet to lose.

"You can't believe how many people came up to me and said 'thank you for speaking out,'" said Cashell, 71.

Both slogans were never adopted, although the convention and visitors authority board of commissioners and the Sparks City Council both unanimously approved the marketing strategies that accompanied the slogans.

While the convention and visitors authority is still working on its new slogan, Sparks approved "It's happening here" to accompany future marketing campaigns.

"A good slogan should elicit an emotional response. Unfortunately, a bad slogan does the same thing," said Pete Ernaut of R&R Partners in Reno, the Nevada firm that developed the naughty but wildly successful "What happens here, stays here" slogan for Las Vegas.

Good slogans are like capturing "lightning in a bottle," some said.

Other said even the most famous slogans were probably not well-received at first.

"I wasn't here when Reno came up with 'The Biggest Little City in the World,' but there could have been people who rolled their eyes at that," said Adam Mayberry, spokesman for the city of Sparks.

Expectations have become so high that the best efforts for slogans get trashed, said Randy Snow, executive vice president and creative director at R&R Partners in Las Vegas. R&R also has offices in Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C.

"As consumers, you get used to seeing really good ones, whether it is 'You're in good hands with Allstate,' or 'Just do it' with Nike or 'Things go better with Coke,'" Snow said. "We have these expectations and when it doesn't meet those expectations, people get upset."

The business of slogans looks easy, but it's tough, Snow said.

"People think that there is this bolt out of the blue, like 'oh my God, that's perfect, that's great, let's go,'" Snow said. "It doesn't work that way. Slogans have to evolve. They have to grow on you.

"I was there for the birth of 'What happens here, stays here,' and there was no bolt out of the blue. I remember when the guys brought 'What happens here, stays here' to me. My first reaction was, 'well that's good. Let's put it on the list. And what else have you got?'"

Developing a successful catch phrase is difficult enough. But when politicians stir the pot, the result can be a watered-down soup, some say.

"Politics is the killer," said Roger Brooks of Destination Development Inc., in Seattle, whose firm was contracted by Sparks to work on its marketing campaign.

Five of 13 convention and visitors authority board of commissioners are elected officials. Even though Cashell is an elected official, he is not an authority board commissioner. And the mayor of Las Vegas has a long-standing duty to serve on the commission of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. And all the members of the Sparks City Council, which has the final say on all city marketing plans, are elected.

Because they will defer to their constituents, politicians make it difficult to come up with anything snappy or unique, Brooks said. If the slogan is not unique, it should be tossed.

"When you try to do something by public consent, you end up with something like 'we're a four-season destination,' or 'we're the adventure place or adventure capital,'" Brooks said. "You always end up with something that is watered down when you do branding by public consent."

The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority slogan for the past seven years has been "America's Adventure Place."

Brooks, however, likes the refreshingly offbeat "A little west of center."

"We really didn't know what it means, but it was at least a little bit more cutting edge," Brooks said. "It sounded cool, a little more hip. Reno kind of has the reputation of that it is where retired people go to gamble, as opposed to Las Vegas, which is hip and young.

"But the big thing ... is that a slogan is about 1% of the branding effort," Brooks said. "But that is where we get hung up every time."

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